Solved Best way to back up a customers computer

[d00p98uy]

Let's say I have a friend have me fix their computer and I got there computer to a perfect (or near perfect) state. I would want them to have a way to revert back to exactly how they set it, right? What would be the best way to back up their computer so they could get back to that state. should i just make a simple system image, or should i do a Jurassic full backup on their computer? What do you guys think?:sarc:

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

As long as the system is on its own partitions or drive, a system image would be all you would need. If everything is on the only partition of a drive, then you would need to image the entire drive.

If you wan to be able to recover data in the future, then you should also image the data partition or drives. It would be better to image the system and the data separately if possible.

I suggest not using Win 7's built in imaging. The free version of Macrium Reflect is better and more reliable.

Whatever you decide, make sure the customer is aware of what you are doing and approves of it.

 

[d00p98uy]

is there a way, just asking, (and i do make sure they approve of what i'm doing first) to do a full backup of the OS and save it to a partition, then add an option to restore your computer right from that partition? Or something similar to that, like a factory reset?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

is there a way, just asking, (and i do make sure they approve of what i'm doing first) to do a full backup of the OS and save it to a partition, then add an option to restore your computer right from that partition? Or something similar to that, like a factory reset?

If the OS is on its own partition(s) or a separate drive, you could put the image on another partition of its own or in a separate folder in a data partition but the customer would have to be savvy enough to know how to use the recovery disk to restore the computer (and, if the customer was that savvy, s/he wouldn't need you). There also is the danger could accidentally delete the image. It would be far safer for you to keep the image yourself and, if the system ever needs restoring, have the customer bring the machine in or you go to the machine to do it.

 

[d00p98uy]

I was planning on doing that also if needed. I have a 1.5TB External HD and wanted to see if i could do something like that. But i want to keep the images nice and organized inside my External. Can i use Macrium Reflect to achieve this? if so, how? I really don't have much experience in backing up computers.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I was planning on doing that also if needed. I have a 1.5TB External HD and wanted to see if i could do something like that. But i want to keep the images nice and organized inside my External. Can i use Macrium Reflect to achieve this? if so, how? I really don't have much experience in backing up computers.

Absolutely! When you make the image, you can tell Reflect where to put it. Just make a folder for each customer (if you have very many customers, I would suggest keeping all the customer folders in another folder) and direct the image to the appropriate customer folder. If you make more than one image for each customer, you will want to assign a unique name for the image instead of using Reflect's default name (which is a confusing string of letters and numbers), such as Customer A - Initial System Image, Customer A - Data Image, etc.

Have you checked out whs' tutorial yet?

 

[d00p98uy]

i haven't looked at any tutorial yet, but i just have ONE more question, when you select the image to restore from how would you select what image to use (I haven't had to do this, sorry) from the External HD? could you please direct me to that tutorial you were talking about please? Im sure you would have anyways, but i had to ask

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

i haven't looked at any tutorial yet, but i just have ONE more question, when you select the image to restore from how would you select what image to use (I haven't had to do this, sorry) from the External HD? could you please direct me to that tutorial you were talking about please? Im sure you would have anyways, but i had to ask

I'm sorry! I though I had already linked the tutorial (this old age business is for the birds). Good thing you did ask. Here 'tis.

You use the recovery CD to restore. The menu within the recovery disk's program will allow you to choose which image to use.

 

[d00p98uy]

sorry, can i add this to a ready-made Windows LivePE, or must i follow the instructions included? I will watch the video sometime tomorrow, but i was wondering if it was "portable" and could be easily added to my current LivePE

 

[jumanji]

This may be of interest to you.

Note: I haven't done it (just remembered having seen it sometime before). If you have any queries, you have to contact the author.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

sorry, can i add this to a ready-made Windows LivePE, or must i follow the instructions included? I will watch the video sometime tomorrow, but i was wondering if it was "portable" and could be easily added to my current LivePE

I would follow the instructions myself. Another of Win 7 Forums' gurus has made a tutorial on how to put the Reflect recovery "disk" on a USB stick (woo hoo!, this time, I remembered to link it). I haven't tried to do that yet (I've got three USB sticks setting on my desk reserved for that purpose—one I'll keep in my purse, one in my desk, and one in my notebook's case—but I haven't motivated myself to do it yet). You might check with Golden and whs to see what they say about it.

 

[PSCO2007]

I was planning on doing that also if needed. I have a 1.5TB External HD and wanted to see if i could do something like that. But i want to keep the images nice and organized inside my External. Can i use Macrium Reflect to achieve this? if so, how? I really don't have much experience in backing up computers.

Couple of suggestions:

I have a 1.5TB External HD and wanted to see if i could do something like that

In order to be assured that the backup will be there when needed. it should be backed up to to at least two hdds (one should be a separate internal as they are much more reliable than any external hdd which are prone to failure.

Also, your client should be the one backing up because if they don't do periodic backups, when they go to recover the image, it will be missing any programs, updates, etc. since last backup.

I do an image backup once a week, and after verifying, delete the previous one.

It is a simple process, and one that whether your client is "savvy" or not, is easy to learn.

These programs are recommended by most users and are easy to learn:

If you purchase a Seagate, WD or Maxtor, you can get the Acronis Trueimage software (free) and make an image of your OS and

put it on your external hdd, and another on an internal hdd.

If you need to recover your OS ( including programs, updates, etc) you can do it with a few clicks.

You can also use Easeus for free and any hdd will work.

Seagate - DiscWizard | Seagate

WD - WD Support

Easeus - EASEUS Todo Backup Free 6.0 Download for Windows / FileHorse.com

With the Easeus link, make sure to decline any add-ons (browser change, etc- just click "custom")

I have included a link that I have of pictures showing how the process works: Post #30.

Backup Your Computer with the Free Acronis True Image Seagate Edition - Page 2 - MajorGeeks Support


Forums

Good luck!!

 

[d00p98uy]

This may be of interest to you.

Note: I haven't done it (just remembered having seen it sometime before). If you have any queries, you have to contact the author.

Thanks! Thsi is one option i WILL be looking into, i have an idea i can do with this thanks everyone else for helping too, I'll be looking through all these ideas to see what best suites me

 

[d00p98uy]

I usually make a partition on a persons HD and tell them to save anything of importance in there, while this will not help if the HD Crashes, it can be an extreme help to be able to reinstall ONE partition and still have all your important files. I do this myself untill recently, when i got my external.